Trio of Grilled Aubergine, Feta and Mint

by Jacqueline on May 21, 2013

Trio of Grilled Aubergine, Feta and Mint

Well wouldn’t you know it, we are slap bang in the middle of  National Vegetarian Week  and what better way to celebrate by indulging in a favorite vegetable of mine; the aubergine. No, let’s correct that. The grilled aubergine. Fried aubergine just doesn’t taste the same! Stick it under the grill until the skin gets crinkly and the flesh collapses inside and renders the most marvellous smokey notes. Top with garlic infused olive oil, a spritz of lemon juice and little squares of cold, salty feta and fresh mint and you have a really mouthwatering combination. This dish really does signal the start of Summer for me and while it won’t challenge your inner Delia, your taste buds will approve. The recipe is inspired by Simon Hopkinson’s  The Good Cook programme which aired a couple of years back.  I’ve adapted it by reducing the amount of olive oil, I’ve used mint instead of parsley (because everyone knows that mint and feta make a superb combination). I’ve served it with rocket leaves, tomatoes, olives, red onion and a vinaigrette dressing to enhance the Greek accent to the dish. You can visit the recipe and learn how to prepare the aubergine here. Serve with a couple of slices of crusty bread and you have a flavoursome lunch.

Smokey Aubergine Salad

Close up on Aubergine, Feta and Mint Salad

While, I don’t adhere to a vegetarian diet myself, I am becoming more aware of the amount of meat I consume and am increasingly finding ways of serving and cooking an array of different vegetables.

Here are some of my other popular vegetarian salads.

This Thai Coriander Salad is deliciously light with a lemongrass and rice wine vinegar dressing. Ideal when you want to cool down during a heatwave. The recipe can be found here.

A light starter to remember

Thai Cucumber Salad

Another recipe which has proved popular on the blog is this Warm Halloumi, Lentil and Tomato Salad. A satiating and nutritious dish and a good way of serving halloumi.

Warm Halloumi, Lentil & Tomato Salad

This wonderful Aromatic Moroccan Salad packs a punch using chilli, tumeric, lime, garlic and cumin in the dressing and a selection of roasted vegetables.

Aromatic Moroccan Salad

Another way of using grilled aubergine is this wonderful Asian Dressed Aubergine dish. This time the skin is used in the dish to add to the fragrant notes of coriander, lime, mint and basil. Tastetastic!

Asian Dressed Aubergine

And lastly, how about some refreshing fruits to start your morning off? This fruit salad uses rambutans, pineapple, mango, kiwi and strawberries all drizzled with a dressing of sparkling water and a dash of lime. Hydration is the key!

Refreshing Fruit Salad

How will you be celebrating National Vegetarian Week?

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Fiery Spaghetti Puttanesca

by Jacqueline on May 17, 2013

Pasta Puttanesca

Fiery Spaghetti Puttanesca

This to me is an ideal dish for those evenings when you are short of time, only have a few ingredients to hand or when you just don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen cooking. Please reassure me that you all go through those days too…. Yes? Hooray for Fiery Spaghetti Puttanesca!

It is however, likely to split opinion; those that detest it for its for anchovy content and those that love it for the salty and sharp flavours brought about by the olives, anchovies and capers. Years ago I was never a great fan of anchovies but this dish “turned me” so to speak. The way the little fish break up and melt in a thick, silky, salty sauce just waiting to be lapped up by those spaghetti strands. Truly delicious and made in a matter of minutes. What’s more you can use the olive oil in the tin of anchovies to fry the shallot, garlic, chillies and anchovies.

Fiery Spaghetti Puttanesca

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Serving Size: Serves 2 for Lunch or Dinner

A very easy and tasty mid-week pasta supper dish for when you are short of time.

Ingredients

  • 180g of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
  • 220g of dried spaghetti
  • 125g of black olives, pitted and cut into halves
  • 1 shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tin of anchovy fillets (8 fillet tin)
  • 2 heaped tbsp of capers, rinsed
  • 2 red chilli thinly sliced (for moderate heat, use 1 de-seeded chilli)
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 tbsp of water reserved from cooking pasta
  • Salt and pepper for seasoning
  • Brown bread crusts, toasted
  • Basil leaves for garnish

Instructions

  1. Put the spaghetti into boiling salted water and cook according to packet instructions.
  2. About 5 minutes later, empty the olive oil from the anchovy tin a frying pan along with the chopped shallot, chilli and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
  3. Then add the anchovies to the frying pan and cook for a further minute. The anchovy fillets should start to break up and melt.
  4. Add the olives, capers and tomatoes to the pan and turn up the heat. Cook for about 90 seconds.
  5. When the spaghetti has been sufficiently cooked, drain it reserving a couple of tablespoons of water to add to the sauce.
  6. Pour the pasta to the frying pan, along with the water and toss all the ingredients together. The sauce should have a silky texture and should coat every strand of pasta.
  7. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper accordingly. Remember anchovy, olives and capers will already be heavily salted.
  8. Serve into two bowls and garnish with some basil and sprinkle on some chunky toasted breadcrumbs as required.

Notes

Linguini can also be used as a replacement for Spaghetti.

http://howtobeagourmand.com/fiery-spaghetti-puttanesca/

If you follow my blog, you’ll know I like a bit of heat in my dishes so I have added 2 chillies to make a fiery hot Puttanesca. I appreciate not everyone enjoys so much heat so remove the seeds and only use one chilli pepper with this dish.

If I have a spare red pepper, I like to grill, peel and add to the dish. Although not a true Puttanesca, I do feel it works well in this pasta dish.

For additional texture, I toast some crusts of brown bread and add for extra crunch.

Top it off with crusty croutons

Fiery Spaghetti Puttanesca with croutons

Who says pasta has to be boring? To be honest, I feel like a bit of a “cheat” posting this up as there is minimal cooking involved but it is a recipe I turn to time and time again.

So tell me truthfully, are you a lover or hater of anchovies? Let me know in the comments below!

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Since this uses a lot of store cupboard ingredients and minimises the use of adding extra olive oil, I’m adding this to Credit Crunch Munch challenge owned by Helen and Camilla and guest-hosted this month by Janice.

Also, because I’ve used basil in the dish, I’m going to enter this into the Herbs on a Saturday challenge owned by Karen and guest-hosted this month by Anneli over at Delicieux.

Herbs on Saturday

I’m also adding this to Bloggers Around the World challenge whose theme this month is Italy and is hosted and owned by Chris over at Cooking Around the World.

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